Hello there! Padawan J here, the resident Star Wars expert from the ODPH! This week I'm going to be reviewing the FIRST issue of Star Wars: Rogue One - Darth Vader from Marvel Comics!
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Rogue One in theaters back in 2016! To commemorate the occasion, Marvel Comics is releasing a series of 5 seperate one shot issues surrounding some of the major characters from the film! The last issue was about Jyn Erso and this one focusing on none other than Darth Vader himself, so let’s jump into it!
Credit: Marvel Comics
Star Wars: Rogue One - Darth Vader #1 by Chris Condon (Writer), Luke Ross (Artist), Mike Atiyeh (Color Artist), VC’s Travis Lanham (Letterer), David Marquez & Laura Martin (Cover)
*** POSSIBLE SPOILER WARNING ***
The Story
Chris Condon is the one writing the story for this issue and I had complete faith that he would live up to expectations for this story, and boy did he ever. Darth Vader has a large reputation, and it’s earned. He’s one of the most recognizable characters in media history and one of the moments that has lead to that reputation is the hallway scene from Rogue One. I really enjoyed how Chris fit this Vader into the time period of Star Wars and made it work so seemlessly.
This story in this issue is like the previous entry’s in the series where it takes place before the events of the film. Exactly how long before it is isn’t clear, but presumably it isn’t very long before the film starts. Our journey takes us to the planet Harreld & it’s capital city Farron where we seen none other than Director Krennic negotiating with the leader of either the city or the planet (it’s not clear which) for a deal where the Empire can harvest the planets kyber crystals for their own use.
The issue doesn’t beat around the bush and leave it in long, drawn out negotiations that go no where. Rather it gets right down to business and gives the reader what you’re there for. You’re there to see Vader in action and this issue gives it to you in SPADES. This story and the action in it reminded me of some of the great Vader stories we’ve seen in the last decade under the Marvel banner. So if you’re a fan of those stories, you going to LOVE this one.
The Artwork
Luke Ross & Mike Atiyeh are in charge of the art for this issue and they really did a fantastic job with it. They did a great job making Vader as menacing as possible. They also did a tremendous job with the action sequences and delivered a fantastic issue with some incredible artwork. I really liked the sequence with Vader and the ocean, because holy cow I need to see that in live action.
Overall Grade: 8/10
An incredible issue that delivers some classic Vader action that every reader can enjoy. It also fleshes out the Rogue One story in a really beneficial way that adds to the film in a compelling way. Together with artwork that is stupendous, this is an issue you cannot pass up on!
